


Sunshine

by fiddleogold_againstyoursoul



Series: Death Meets Life. It's Not Pretty. [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-04-19 08:53:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4740374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiddleogold_againstyoursoul/pseuds/fiddleogold_againstyoursoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will discovers that Nico absolutely hates being called Sunshine. As in I-will-rip-the-stuffing-out-of-you-Octavian-style hate.<br/>It's unfortunate for Nico that Will isn't a teddy bear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sunshine

It was another sunny day, another one of those _'hey-let's-go-have-a-picnic'_ kind of days where demigods fell over themselves trying to get some time off. Except some demigods, unfortunately, took this opportunity to get themselves as banged up as possible. But that was okay, right? After all, there was the almighty son of Apollo to care for these clumsy idiots' boo-boos...

"Just my luck, eh, Will?"

Jason Grace grinned...concealing a grimace...at the blond healer, whom was trying to apply a healing salve to the boy's badly bruised forehead without inflicting any more damage.

"Hey, don't complain, Grace," Percy Jackson, a fresh-looking teenager with eyes the colour of the sea and windswept black hair called from the other infirmary bed. "Annabeth chewed me out for getting hurt in the first place. You don't have a girlfriend that bruises you for _getting hurt._ "

Will smiled and headed over to Percy. The son of Poseidon had a nasty gash across his abdomen, and he looked pretty pale, but it was a skin wound, and wasn't deep enough to be a major worry. _Nothing nectar and ambrosia couldn't fix, anyway._

"I'm sure Annabeth had her reasons," He cocked his head at the still unrepentant teen and firmly gestured for him to sit his petulant behind back down onto the sheets. "After all, I wouldn't want my boyfriend getting slashed by a...what now, Hotshot?"

"I don't even know," Percy groaned. "All I know is that Annabeth took one look at me and started rattling on about how I should stop going on dangerous quests with Jason Grace. How the heck was I supposed to know the museum was haunted? I don't do museums, man!"

"Jackson, Jackson," Jason tutted. "You completely overlooked Will's most important statement."

"Important? I think half the camp knows about it already, thanks to Clarisse catching a certain son of Hades fast asleep in the nook of a medic's elbow..."

Will snorted in spite of himself. He remembered when Nico and him had crawled onto the roof of the Big House, just to catch a glimpse of the stars. How Nico's soft snores had lulled him into sleep...

"At least your girlfriend doesn't try to charm you into promising you'll never do anything stupid again," Jason lazily said. All three of them laughed.

"A bit impossible for your Grace."

"Ah, stop quoting Leo!"

After the laughter had subsided, Will took up the subject of Leo. "It's funny, isn't it?" He murmured. "Valdez names everyone, and I mean everyone...what was that new name he gave Frank that other day?...oh yeah, the _Frankosaur_ or something like that. But he's never given...at least, not in my hearing...one to Nico."

Percy and Jason exchanged looks.

"What?"

 _"Nothin',"_ They chorused, but Jason relented a little after seeing Will's impatient expression. "Okay, okay. Travis and Connor, they actually did the naming for Nico. It was Bones, first, then Lord Voldemort The Second..." He faltered. "Um, then they touched something they shouldn't have, and Nico blew up some stuff, and..."

Will was suddenly intrigued. It wasn't healthy, this strange obsession for things that would risk his neck, but he never even tried to tame it. "What was the name?" He slowly asked, placing a glass of orange juice on Jason's bedside. "Uh...that made Nico go ballistic. Voldemort is good, though. It should still be valid."

"Oh, _I_ didn't hear it. Jackson did, ask him. All I know was that it occurred in the winter, when everyone else went home." Jason shrugged and jerked his chin towards Percy. His fingers closed around the glass. Will realised how parched the boy really was as he drained it in a few obnoxiously loud slurps.

"Uh, no. I'm not repeating that, Nico will have my hide."

_"Come on."_

Percy shot them both a long, slow look that he'd probably gotten from Annebeth a gazillion times. _"...Sunshine,"_ He coughed, then dragged his hand across his messy locks of hair. "It was Sunshine. But, Will, I wouldn't advise..."

"Too late." Will was grinning. Remarkably cheerfully, the type of grin both spectating demigods thought they'd only ever see on Valdez. And they were terrified when they saw that on Leo. As in absolutely scared shitless.

Percy shrugged, and managed a weak, fluttery laugh.

"Remind me to write an obituary for you at your funeral." 

*

Nico looked pissed. Oh, yes, he was sporting that adorable little screw-shit-up frown, and that little furrow between his eyebrows when he wasn't smiling _\--sorry, when he wasn't having a face itch--_ was just there, just deeper than ever. He had his Camp Half-Blood orange shirt on under a black jacket with a skull emblem on the back, and the camp necklace with the few beads he'd stayed around to collect hung around his pale, thin neck loosely.

_It was comforting to know that Nico at least wore what the other campers did, as if he was finally seeing the camp as home. As his family._

Will pushed this rush of thoughts aside and smiled as his eyes met Nico's sullen, dark ones. "Hey, Sunshine," He playfully said.

Nico's eyes widened for a split second, the blood rushing into his cheeks by both embarrassment and outrage. Then he scowled, his eyes looking like pools of black fire. Will felt the drop of temperature as Nico's apoplexy swayed, the latter trying to gain control of his emotions, and stepped back in alarm.

Percy was right, he panicked, but kept up that grinning demeanour. 

"What did you just call me?"

"Aww, come on," Will laughed and found it easier to breathe as he stepped closer to Nico. The boy flinched, as if he could feel Will's warmth pressing in on him...as if it was suffocating. Then Nico went limp as Will pulled him closer, and the son of Apollo felt every beat of his heart push more warmth into his cheeks. 

"I'm _not_ a ray of sunshine," Nico grumbled, but it was feeble. He moved his head around a bit, evidently unused to Will's newly grown few inches of height, and settled for a place on his shoulder. "And...yeah. I'm not."

"No?" 

Will slowly stroked the boy's head. It was cute, just too _adorable_ , how Nico squeaked a little, then flushed as if it was something unheard of. "Well, Sunshine, why don't you disintegrate me with your hellfire eyes?" He stopped teasing, however. They didn't have much time, it would soon be dinner time, and Nico hated being touchy-feely in public.

"That sounds like some really bad country song." 

Nico laughed despite himself. Will admired how clear the ringing tones were, how rare and sweet the mirth that bubbled up to Nico's lips was. He smiled and drew him closer; it wasn't enough that he had Nico, he wanted all of Nico, and Nico to want all of him. He wanted to make sure he left a mark on Nico's existence, he wanted to be the anchor that dragged Nico back to where his roots were, his home. 

He shifted a little. It always got scary, how possessive he was of Nico, and how furtive he tried to be of it. He never told anyone, _heck, he was supposed to be the laid-back boyfriend_ , but it was getting worse. Nico was drifting further apart, as if he was detaching himself of Will, of Camp Half-Blood and the gods themselves. He wondered, if he'd never met Nico that day, would he still be that sad dark male with hair that curled into wings of cherubs and pale, clammy skin. 

"So, what did you do to the Stolls?" Will prompted, pulling away so he could see Nico's eyes. It was as if Nico always was guarding them, those almond shaped orbs of obsidian that glimmered with depth Will could never hope to reach, and Will wished he was the son of Hermes instead, so he could place a hand on Nico's head and just thieve his thoughts away. 

"You mean when they called me that? I don't remember." Nico's eyes darkened. He turned his face away and studied the open door of the Hades cabin. It still had that whole vampire edge to it, but Will saw how the bed _...*cough*coffin..._ Nico occupied usually was more human, the sheets crisp white and a figurine--Mythomagic, maybe?--propped against a black pillow. "I remember losing my temper, and then I passed out. They tell me I went ballistic." He said, as if it was a simple statement. 

"Yeah, you're amazing."

Nico turned back to him and for a second, Will saw deep into those soulful eyes. Saw the age of aeons behind eyes that should've belonged to a young man. Saw the pain of one who'd lost so much so fast, that he couldn't bear with himself if he didn't force himself further on. Saw the struggle of one striving to create his own place in a world that was so helplessly strange. Will saw all of that, and suddenly _'Sunshine'_ felt like a sick joke.

He felt his stomach lurch.

_"...Nic..."_

The sound of something like a bull stampede made both of them start. "Oh, it's the Ares cabin," Nico remarked airily, casting a look out the door. "That means it's time for dinner. Clarisse and her siblings might as well be a meat timer for all they remind people of mealtimes."

Will felt numb, it was as if his appetite was suddenly gone--caved in. 

"Uh, I should go round up my cabinmates, then." He said, in a raw sort of voice. Nico seemed to sense it, for he looked at him with a searching expression. 

"Will."

Solace was one foot out the door. He quickly wheeled back, for fear of missing anything Nico might say. The boy only blinked with those long black lashes, like a butterfly's feelers. "...love you," He said, suddenly finding his feet very interesting. Will felt his lips split open into a grin. What was he worrying about again?

_"You too, Sunshine."_

**Author's Note:**

> Another Solengelo fic no one wants.


End file.
